Many different forms of collating arrangements are known in the art and one of the chief drawbacks of those existing arrangements is realized with the degree of labour intensity. Generally speaking, several personnel are involved in handling the articles to eventually be packaged and this often leads to difficulties in terms of damaged goods as well as complications with respect to health standards. Further limitations revolve around the fact that the additional personnel add labour costs to the overall process.
It would be desirable if there were a method for collating loose articles into an orderly array which is significantly less labour intensive and which reduces the contact between the product and the personnel packaging the product.
The present invention is directed to solving the difficulties as set forth herein.